The Pentagon said its deterrence strategy in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war is working on Thursday despite a rapid succession of attacks on U.S. military bases and fiery protests in the Middle East that could trigger a wider conflict.
The Biden administration has said its surge of U.S. troops and hardware toward Israel is meant to prevent outside actors like Iran-backed Hezbollah from seeking to join the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said that the incidents that have occurred since the announcements — including at least three separate drone attacks on U.S. bases in Syria and Iraq, and missile interceptions in the Red Sea — remain isolated, showing the effectiveness of the administration’s strategy.
“Right now, this conflict is contained between Israel and Hamas. And we’re going to do everything we can to ensure deterrence in the region so that this does not become a broader regional conflict,” Ryder said at the briefing Thursday. (RELATED: White House Appears To Reveal Identities Of Special Operators In Israel In Social Media Post)
Hours earlier, a U.S. Navy ship shot down three missiles the Iran-supported Houthi militia in Yemen launched in a path likely aimed at targets in Israel, the latest in a number of intercepts of weapons that appeared to threaten U.S. troops, Ryder said. The destroyer USS Carney was operating in the Red Sea as part of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group, which the Biden administration directed to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks as a show of force against regional actors.
American troops also fended off drone attacks at bases in Syria and Iraq, at least two of which were claimed by local Iran-backed militia groups under the umbrella name Islamic Resistance in Iraq.
“These small scale attacks are clearly concerning and dangerous,” Ryder said of the drone onslaughts. “We’re going to do everything necessary to ensure that we’re protecting our forces and if and when we choose to respond, we’ll do so at the time of our choosing.”
Ryder declined to attribute the attacks, saying the Department of Defense (DOD) is still assessing the incidents. “Certainly rhetoric from hate groups is not a new thing; we’re going to take all of this seriously but we’re not going to overreact,” he said.
U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Audrey Michelli, operations officer aboard Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyerUSS Carney #DDG64, stands as tactical action officer (TAO) in the combat information center (CIC).
📸: MC2 Aaron Lau pic.twitter.com/wy7EoGaeRf
— SURFLANT (@surflant) October 19, 2023
“This is a very unfortunate situation right now that we’re seeing play out as Israel tries to defend itself from Hamas terrorist attacks, and so we’ll continue to stand by the people of Israel as they look to defend themselves in their country. But certainly when it comes to the broader Middle East, no one wants to see this expand into a broader regional war, and will continue to work with our allies and partners” to prevent that, Ryder said.
Anti-Israel and anti-U.S. demonstrations sprung up across the region, with footage showing fires at protests near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut , according to Reuters.
Lebanese Hezbollah called for a “day of rage” after Hamas blamed Israel for what the U.S. said was likely a Palestinian missile misfiring and striking a hospital.
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